Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/turn-children-loose-outside!/5025372/
When I was a young child, I remember tromping through the woods behind my house for hours, building houses with branches and pine needle floors, hunting for Bigfoot, and creating endless games with the natural materials we found. There was no better feeling than knowing my friends and I were only limited by what we could imagine.
These days, far too many children do not have the same opportunity to explore and create outdoors. Adults hover nearby, often directing children to stop doing something.
Put that stick down.
Rocks stay on the ground.
That is not what we use that bucket, shovel, stepping stone for…
Is it any wonder, then, that I often see children wandering aimlessly, getting into arguments with peers, and looking bored by the options they are offered? Outdoor play is essential to children’s development, and when loose parts are available, young children can have experiences far more like the ones I remember so fondly, even in structured programs.
Loose Parts? What Does That Mean?
The theory of loose parts has been around for decades, coined by landscape architect Simon Nicholson. In an article first published in “Landscape Architecture” in October 1971, he wrote, “The theory of loose parts says, quite simply, the ...